Important Reads for RSS

CORRUPTION WATCH-“Am I my brother’s keeper?” asked the world’s first murderer. This week the United States Senate GOP answered Cain’s question, “No, we are not our brothers’ keepers.” In adding a tax bill amendment which would repeal the Mandate from ObamaCare, Senate Republicans affirmed that we are not responsible for each other’s welfare. For the GOP, “each man is an island.”

WAR POLITICS--A veteran who had sought help from a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in New Jersey killed himself in front of the building after his mental health needs were neglected, an investigation has found.

GUEST COMMENTARY-More governors need to show their courage. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has proposed a budget calling on existing government employees and retirees to bear the costs of proposed pension reforms because citizens and taxpayers have already contributed enough to the retirement system. The proposed changes include higher contributions by employees and lower post-retirement increases for retirees.

ASSESSING OUR CULTURE OF IGNORANCE-Public ignorance is an inherent threat to democracy. It breeds superstition, prejudice, and error; and it prevents both a clear-eyed understanding of the world and the formulation of wise policies to adapt to that world.

NEW GEOPGRAPHY--Perhaps nothing has been more ironic than the canonization of respectable, moderate-seeming Republicans. People like Mitt Romney and the Bush family, once castigated as practitioners of unmitigated greed or even Hitlerian fascists, have suddenly become laudable in the mainstream media.